WHEN I SAY "FUCK ISRAEL" I'M REALLY
ONLY TALKING ABOUT ITS GOVERNMENT

From the Israeli newspaper Haaretz courtesy of BuzzFlash:

Ending the neoconservative nightmare

Finding themselves somewhat bogged down in the Iraqi quagmire, the neoconservatives are reveling in the latest crisis, displaying their customary hubris in re-seizing the initiative. The U.S. press and blogosphere is awash with neocon-inspired calls for indefinite shooting, no talking and extension of hostilities to Syria and Iran, with Gingrich calling this a third world war to "defend civilization."

Disentangling Israeli interests from the rubble of neocon "creative destruction" in the Middle East has become an urgent challenge for Israeli policy-makers. An America that seeks to reshape the region through an unsophisticated mixture of bombs and ballots, devoid of local contextual understanding, alliance-building or redressing of grievances, ultimately undermines both itself and Israel. The sight this week of Secretary of State Rice homeward bound, unable to touch down in any Arab capital, should have a sobering effect in Washington and Jerusalem.

Afghanistan is yet to be secured, Iraq is an exporter of instability and perhaps terror, too, Iranian hard-liners have been strengthened and encouraged, while the public throughout the region is ever-more radicalized, and in the yet-to-be "transformed" regimes of Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, is certainly more hostile to Israel and America than its leaders. Neither listening nor talking to important, if problematic, actors in the region has only impoverished policy-making capacity.

Click here for the rest.

Coupling this essay with what I understand to be a viable Israeli peace movement, which includes a number of "refuseniks" or soldiers who refuse to serve in the occupied territories, it's looking like some Israelis are as sick of the bullshit as I am. And that's a great thing. While the essay itself is quite good, a marvelous analysis of how Israel is really only a chess piece in the American neocon's global game, and therefore very dangerous to the Jewish state's interests in the long run, the reason I posted it is to show, if only to myself, that opposition to Israel's military belligerence and harsh treatment of Palestinians is actually broadly based, including Israelis as well as Arabs--only in the US is opposition to Israel considered to be tantamount to anti-Semitism. Okay, that, and also that I might be just a wee bit afraid of being branded an anti-Semite myself, and don't want to have to rely on my collection of Woody Allen movies to prove I'm not.

God, this Mel Gibson thing is getting to me.

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